I have just obtained a nice plain 244DL - the proverbial minister's car. It currently does not have overdrive and I was wondering whether I should bother to look for an overdrive unit/transmission to add to the car. Is this something that can be accomplished economically (some of the time) or should I just be content and leave things as they are?

Also, there are occasionally instrument clusters on ebay et al which have a tachometer (which mine does not). Is the installation of a new instrument cluster fairly simple and do I need to obtain any other parts to make the tachometer function? Also - from which years can I take an instrument cluster and put it in my 1979 244DL?

Thanks

Both are good to have, in my opinion.

Most likely your car will not be wired for the tach but look to be sure. Wire would be white (or maybe gray, I can't remember) with a red stripe if it is there. The other end connects to the coil. If no wire is present you can run one or you can tap the white (or gray)/red wire at the fuel pump relay. I did this on my car. It was easy and it works fine.

If you find an M46 trans it may need some refurbishment before installation. Have a look at the overdrive rebuild article found here. Duane is extremely knowledgable on the subject and has or can get most of the parts needed. Most likely anything you find would only need a few o-rings replaced and a gasket or two. Probably it's best to get one from someone who's parting a car and can describe any abnormal behavior it might have been exhibiting.
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'80 DL 2 dr

Well, twofordy is close but he is talking about the 81-on cluster. In the '79, all you have to do is take out the little "Volvo" emblem in the lower center of your cluster and plug in the correct 4 cylinder tach. There is (probably) a heavy gray wire that plugs into the tach and it is the only connection you need make. Let me know if you want a tach at low cost. As for the M46 tranny, you will need the shift knob and wiring, relay, transmission and front driveshaft section at least. Is it worth it? Well, maybe if you do the work yourself, but I would wait until you need a clutch, then do the rer main, clutch and tranny swap.

My "ministers car" was a '80 242DL. It had only one accessory: a/c. The overdrive is worthwhile since on the highway, I bet it sings. It seems they don't change the rear end ratio to allow for the 4 speed.

I installed an M-46 relatively easily. Besides the transmission, you will need a new driveshaft as well as a new speedometer cable. You will also need the correct shift knob and wiring harness. They should be taken from a 81+ since the early ones have a slide switch for the o/d instead of the nicer button and relay. I used the car to commute on the interstate and appreciated the reduction in engine rpm. For an around town car, the work might not be justified.

Look for the small tach on ebay. You need to remove the instrument cluster, remove the blank in the middle of the cluster and install the tach. You will need to run one wire to the coil. The instrument cluster was the same up to '80. In '81 is was changed.

Skip
'93 850GLT
'83 242TI Flathood

Look behind your instrument cluster. Not sure about the 79, but usually there is a loose wire (mine was gray) just hanging behind there for no reason. Get yourself a tach, put it where the clock was, and plug in the wire and you should be fine. Mine's an 83 and that's all I had to do.